Weaker day but no panic selling

Weaker day but no panic selling

The sharemarket finished slightly weaker, showing little sustained reaction to the London bombings after early selling dissipated.

ABN Amro Morgans senior equities adviser Geoff Voller said the market had been "reasonably rational" without any panic selling.

The ASX 200 was down 4.8 points to 4229.2 and the All Ordinaries slid 3.8 points to 4193.8.

Banks were mixed as Westpac slipped 7c to $19.24 and ANZ 2c to $21.30. CBA was unchanged at $37.63. NAB rose 3c to $30.21.

The oil price had weakened overnight which affected oil stocks. Woodside Petroleum and Santos each fell 20c, to $29.35 and $10.80 respectively. Oil Search lost 9c to $3.28 and Tap Oil 9c to $2.51.

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also ended in the red, with Rio off 59c to $45.76 and BHP 22c to $18.38.

Travel-related stocks fell in early trade amid initial concerns that the attacks in London could dampen demand for travel to the UK. Qantas dipped 2c to $3.20 and Air New Zealand also fell, down 4.5c to $1.165.

Tattersall's lost 12c to $3.34 after its strong debut on Thursday.

Telstra rose 3c to $4.96, after new boss Sol Trujillo said he was focused on cost structures.

The retail sector finished the week strongly, led by Coles Myer, up 21c to $9.18. Woolworths put on 10c to $15.96 and David Jones rose 0.5c to $1.95.

Harvey Norman, however, dropped 3c to $2.50 as Credit Suisse First Boston analysts warned of a slide in domestic retail earnings for the group in the second half of this year.

Diversified property group Becton Developments had its debut at a 20c premium to its 50c issue price before easing back to close at 51.5c.

Among the property stocks, Westfield fell 9c to $17.71 and Lend Lease 5c to $13.10.

Gold stocks were led down by Newcrest Mining, which slid 36c to $17.01. Newmont Mining dipped 5c to $5.08 and Lihir lost 3c to $1.205.

Allied Brands fell 6c to 24c after it cut its 2004-05 profit forecast because of costs associated with the acquisition of the Wendy's ice-cream chain and a continued delays in opening new Baskin-Robbins stores.